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Comment by jacquesm | Hacker News Reader

I've flown more than I care to even think about, the carbon footprint of my life is about as ugly as it gets. That said, I do have a bit of experience to draw on and my current favorite is a narrowbody:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A220

Originally designed by Bombardier, every flight with it that I've made so far (~10) has been an extremely nice experience, especially when compared to other planes on the same routes. The only plane that I would prefer is the 747 but that's pretty much gone on passenger routes now and those two planes would not be found on the same routes anyway. So a long flight in a narrow body is definitely not something that I would run away from.

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I've only flown on 747-400s with BA and Qantas, and I've found them to be terribly loud. I've heard the 747-8s were a little quieter, but would you really say that would be better than a 787, A350, or A380?

I too have heard that the A220 is a fantastic plane. I'm looking forward to Qantas flying them.

The A220 emits very strange engine noises in some phases of the flight. Personally I must say I find them very unpleasant. My wild guess it's the gear fan.

It doesn't help to know that their have quite some engine problems. Although objectively I doubt the noises and engine failures are related.

You mean the "whale song"? It's just a quirk of the Pratt and Whitney PW1000G series at low power settings. The same engine family is fitted to new Airbus A320neos and makes the same sound. Examples:

https://youtu.be/Eeq4rYQUozY

Ah, I didn't know it's called whale song, but yes that's what I mean. Low power setting might be correct, I think you hear that typically in approach phase. I have been flying with many types planes from Vickers propeller, Caravelle, 727, L-1011, 717 and its predecessors to 747-8, A350, Dreamliner, but I never remember hearing a sound making me feel so uncomfortable. Despite the fact that the old ones were uncomfortably loud. After over 40 years of flying I nearly thought, now I can understand people suffering from flying anxiety.

Don't remember hearing it on a A320 neo, but I guess they come with 2 engine options?

I've never flown an A380 so I can't really comment on that and yes, I much prefer the 747 on longer routes over 787, A350 vs 747 would be more or less a wash, noise is mostly a function of where you're sitting in the plane so you have a bit of control over that (and these days: very good noise cancelling headphones).

Yes, I will pay extra if it’s an option to fly with their planes.

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